Lost Planet 3: Hands-on with multiplayer
Lost Planet 3 will be out in August. I covered the single-player Lost Planet 3 experience way, way back in June of last year and after having a quick bash at a newer build this week, it plays much the same. The insectoid enemies are very aggressive but with some good positioning and the right, you can take on hordes at once. The highlight for me this time round was one of the characters, Crazy Neil who seems to have an odd relationship with penguins. Watch out for him.
Capcom revealed two of the four multiplayer modes that will be available and I spent a few hours with one of them; Scenario. Multiplayer is primarily a third-person shooter, with the familiar grapple hook changing your normal deathmatch dynamics. This time around you'll rarely be able to use it to propel yourself horizontally or up sheer walls, at least in multiplayer. Instead, you're limited to the platforms and towers placed strategically around the maps. This is a pity because the standard run speed is quite slow compared to most recent shooters.
Each player has four loadouts to choose from, with weapons like the Valkyrie, a crossbow with explosive bolts, and your more typical shotgun or assault rifle options. Support options include portable shields and grenades. When you down a rival, you'll need to race up to their prone body for a curbstomp to finish them off and score some extra points. As a result, one of the loadout options is a gas bomb that players can activate even while down. Wait for the enemy to get up close and then let loose, spraying clouds of purple gas around the map and (hopefully) taking out your killer.
Scenario 1
The Scenario mode offers, as you might expect, a series of scenarios that team need to achieve. Pitting the Snow Pirates against the Nevec forces, I spent the first mission attempting to prevent a Battlecat drilling machine from grinding its way into my base through the doors. It's a little like the Minecart mode of Team Fortress 2 but there's no way to push the Battlecat back or destroy it. Instead, you disable it, the other team repairs it, you disable it again and so forth until the timer runs out. Makes a change from straight team deatchmatch I suppose.
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